A Million Pinpoints of Light
by Amilyn
Summary: Shortly after "Beneath the Surface," Sam and Jack tumble into a cavern off-world and are trapped there, injured and cold. No warnings apply.


A Million Pinpoints of Light

by Amy L Hull

Written for danversstark in the Sam/Jack SG1 Secret Santa 2018 #sg1secretsanta

"Cold."

"Carter?"

That had been her voice. Then another voice.

"Cold." Her voice again. It was dark and cold. And wet.

Heavy fabric pressed against her neck and chin.

"This is all I've got right now, Carter."

Sure hands reached under her head, sliding his cap snug around her ears. Cold fingers slid against her forehead, tucking her hair under the knit edge and tugging it to her eyebrows.

The world spun and she whimpered. "Jonah-"

He stiffened. Breathed. "Shhh. Keep still. Save your strength." He squeezed her shoulder.

It was his jacket he'd tucked around her. She was lying down. Cold seeped up from the ground beneath her. Only her cheek was warm.

"Fell?"

"Yeah." He squeezed again. "The ground just gave way. No warning. Nothing you could have done."

"You too?"

"Yep. Saw you go down, though, and had just enough warning to grab something. You fell pretty hard, though."

Pain she hadn't noticed before lanced through her hip, her shoulder, her head. She shifted away from sharp points under her thigh. Pain, stabbing, burning overtook her senses, and whimpered again, wincing at her own weakness.

"Told you to keep still."

"Hmm. Won't try that again." She breathed through the pain, forcing her body to relax as much as it would with muscles protesting and contracting with shivers. "My shift?"

"Don't worry about it. You're supposed to stay right here. You were out for over five minutes, then you've dozed off and on since. Had me worried about that big brain of yours. National treasure and all that." His hand brushed across her head.

She didn't remember waking up before, and her head was heavy and light and the same time, like she was planning to do something then forgetting before completing any task since it was so far away. Jonah had to be freezing, since he'd put his clothes on her. It was so dark, and she couldn't stop shivering.

She tried again "My shift-"

"Shhh." The sound became a long sigh. "I...let them know. Medical should be here soon."

"Wait, are you injured, too?"

"Just some scrapes, maybe a sprained wrist. Nothing serious."

"You should get checked out too. We wouldn't want you-"

"Shhh." He stroked her arm. "Don't worry about it right now."

She drifted on the sea of her head swimming, spinning, and the pain drifted away with the waves.

It was the pain that woke her.

And a steady clunking.

The ground was still cold and damp, but it no longer spun beneath her.

The clunk seemed to be in rhythm with her pulse, pounding with the pain in her head.

Despite trying to stop herself, she groaned.

The noise stopped.

"Hey."

"Hey, yourself, sir." Blinking in the dark, she realized he was several feet away, and her head was no longer resting on his leg.

There was a long silence. "Carter." The supreme neutrality in his voice sounded like relief. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better, sir."

He hummed.

"How long have we been here?"

Velcro scratched. "Four hours. We were supposed to rendezvous at the DHD an hour ago. I figure Daniel and Teal'c, or them and a rescue party, should be finding us pretty soon." Rustling and the creaking of his knees told her he had stood, and he clicked on a flashlight.

Pain shot through her head, and she squeezed her eyes closed.

Two footfalls later he was by her again.

She pushed at the ground, and another groan escaped her.

Then his hands were on her shoulders, easing her up as he sat beside her. "Take it slow, Carter. I don't want that energy bar all over me."

"Sir, I think I ate that energy bar over seven hours ago."

Obligingly on cue, her stomach growled. She chuckled. She knew the exact smirke he was making without opening her eyes.

"Point taken, major."

The colonel scooted nearer and tugged his jacket up around her again. He adjusted the foil blanket she hadn't even noticed so it covered both of them.

He reached to the side. There was a scrape and a zip, and he rustled in his pack. She could feel the warmth from his leg seeping through her BDUs. His hand slid down her arm and he placed a canteen into her hand.

"Small sips, Carter."

"Yes, sir." Hypothermia was a serious concern, even worse if she got more dehydrated.

"I've been saving these till you were awake." More crinkling, a rattle, and a splash. "Dinner in ten minutes, major."

"Thank you." She lifted his jacket. "Here, sir, you-"

"No, Carter, you're injured."

"You need to keep warm too," she protested

"I've got plenty of layers. Put that on, Carter. That's an order."

He threaded her arm through one sleeve, leaned her forward-oh, that hurt-passed the jacket behind her, and slid her arm into other sleeve. Leaning across her, he did up the fastenings.

She clenched her teeth, just breathing for a moment against the rock wall as her hip burned. "What was that clunking earlier?" she asked once words would form again.

He had settled next to her again. "Oh, I was throwing rocks at the roof, making some noise."

"Why?"

"Well, ah, something about this cavern seems to have knocked out our walkies." His watch beeped. "At least, I haven't heard anything since we fell. It's possible the walkies just won't receive. I've sent out our last known location every 20 minutes." He got to his feet and clicked the flashlight back on.

Cool air rushed in where he had been sitting. Sam tucked the blanket under her leg while the colonel moved to stand beneath the hole they'd fallen down.

"SG-1, this is O'Neill, do you read? Carter and I are trapped in a cavern two clicks east-northeast of the DHD. Warning: ground is unstable. Extraction equipment and a littler will be needed. Carter is injured. We are two clicks east-northeast of the DHD, over." He propped the flashlight against a rock, aiming its beam up through the hole.

He sat heavily beside her and tucked the blanket back around them both. He was so warm.

His watch beeped again. "Good timing, huh? Dinner is served." He peeled back the MRE covers and set hers on her lap, then blew on a spoonful of his own. "Mmm. Tastes like chicken."

She couldn't help smiling and took a tentative bite of her own meal, chewing carefully. The room might not be spinning, but she'd hit her head hard, and had no desire to be sick in addition to getting herself injured.

"Hey, Carter?"

"Hmm?"

"Stop it."

She swallowed the chicken and rice mixture. "Stop what?"

"Guilting all over the place." He shoved another spoonful in his mouth.

She gaped at his outline, just discernible in the spill-over from the flashlight.

"I know you, Carter, and listening to me ask for help, I'm sure you're sitting there feeling like you did something terribly wrong."

Sam's face flamed hot. All the SGC seemed to be doing lately was rescuing them. "Well, if I'd paid more-"

"Ah, ah, ah!" He pointed at her with the spoon. "That's my job. I'm your C.O. You're here to investigate, and I'm here to watch out for you. So if anyone's going to feel guilty, it's me." He stabbed himself in the chest with the spoon. "Ow."

She laughed. "All right, sir. I'll blame this all on you."

"Good." He nodded emphatically, then pointed at her food. "Now eat up."

It was one of the better MRE meals, and even had a two-bite brownie for dessert. The warm food helped warm Sam up a little from the inside, and when she was done, the colonel folded their trash and tucked it away in his pack.

His hand found hers again and he pressed a packet into it.

"Take those. I know you're in pain. It's barely better than Tylenol, but it should help."

She barely paused. "Thank you, sir." She couldn't think about how badly she was hurt. Not yet. As long as their team found them quickly, Janet would tell her soon enough how long she'd be out of the field. She had plenty of projects to keep her busy if they got home.

"C'mere, Carter." He pulled her head onto his shoulder. "You need to rest. Give that brain time to heal. Shouldn't be long till they find us."

Even with her head and hip throbbing, Sam relaxed into him. She'd missed this since P3R-118.

She awakened with a start.

"How long-"

"Only about half an hour. It's okay."

"The flashlight's dying."

The colonel nodded, his head moving against hers. "Carter, did you see?"

Sam looked around in the shadows. There was a more open sound and a breeze from the direction of the opening, along with the beam from the flashlight and an echoing downward glow, ever so faint, that must be whatever moon this planet had.

Scattered around the cavern were points of light.

The colonel flicked on the backup flashlight and shone it in a careful pattern along the walls and ceiling then flicked it off.

The entire cavern had come to life. "Almost like Christmas lights, isn't it, Carter?"

Sam's breath caught and she sat up straighter, barely noticing her body's protest. "There must be crystalline or mica-like fragments embedded in the soil and rock formations here. Once the rescue team is here, we have to get a sample of this to see what the reflective material is and-"

"Sam! Jack!"

The colonel extricated himself and got to his feet.

"O'Neill! Major Carter!"

Sam sighed. Teal'c's deep voice meant home. They were going home.

"Be careful. We're down here, guys!" the colonel shouted, hands cupped around his mouth.

"We got your message, Jack."

"Daniel, don't get too near the-"

"We _got_ your message, Jack! I'm over 10 feet from the opening."

Sam almost laughed. She could hear Daniel rolling his eyes.

"As am I, O'Neill. How is Major Carter?"

"I'm okay-"

"Carter, don't try shouting," the colonel snapped. "She's hurt, but she'll be okay once we get her back. Is anyone with you?"

"SG-3 is about half a click back," Daniel called. "They've got a litter and a pulley system."

"Doctor Fraiser is with them," Teal'c added.

Daniel called, "Sam, we'll have you warmed up and home in no time."

"Thanks for your concern for my well-being, Daniel."

Sam laughed in earnest at the colonel's ribbing. He hadn't made a joke since before she fell.

A motor approached and was turned off, then commotion above increased. Janet was up there, calling out orders along with Colonel Reynolds.

Colonel O'Neill came back over and sat next to Sam.

"Well, we didn't get quite as frozen as in Antarctica, did we, Carter?"

"No, sir. And they found us much more quickly. Thanks to you."

"Well, you got us out last time, so I guess it was my turn." He pointed up. "How long you think it'll take them."

"Given the instability of the ground and the weight of the equipment-"

"A while then. Got it."

She smiled, but winced a little.

The colonel ran a quick pass of the flashlight over the cavern and recharged the embedded crystals. "Prettier hole to be stuck in, too, huh?"

Sam leaned against his shoulder and watched the twinkling minerals. "You're right. It's not a bad hole to be stuck in."

end


End file.
